Copyright tass
TUNIS, October 28. /TASS/. The Palestinian movement Hamas has decided to postpone the transfer of the remains of an Israeli hostage slated for October 28 due to Israel violating the ceasefire regime in the Gaza Strip, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the movement’s military wing, said in a statement. "We will postpone the transfer scheduled for today due to violations on the part of occupiers," the statement published on the group’s Telegram channel reads. "We emphasize that any escalation will hinder the search and retrieval of the remains which will delay their return to the occupiers," the Palestinian movement said. Earlier, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades announced the transfer of the remains "recovered from a tunnel in Gaza a short while ago" to representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at 9 p.m. local time (6 p.m. GMT). However, soon after the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered to deliver powerful strikes on the Gaza Strip. According to Israel’s Channel 12, the prime minister made this decision during a meeting with law enforcement bodies after armed militants from the Hamas movement violated the ceasefire by delivering strikes on the Israeli military in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded by striking several military facilities in the area. Additionally, earlier on Tuesday, it was reported that Israeli forensic experts had determined that the coffin delivered on the evening of October 27 contained some of the remains of a hostage, whose body had already been returned nearly two years ago. Israel and Hamas resumed Egypt-, Qatar-, United States-, and Turkey-mediated indirect talks on settling the situation in the Gaza Strip on October 6. On October 9, the parties to the conflict signed an agreement on the implementation of phase one of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan. The ceasefire came into effect on October 10. On October 13, Hamas and other Palestinian groups released all 20 living hostages and handed over the bodies of four deceased hostages under the Gaza ceasefire deal. The Israeli side expressed resentment that Hamas returned only four out of 28 bodies of deceased hostages. Later, Hamas transferred several more bodies to Israel. According to the Israeli side, the remains of 13 hostages are still in the enclave.
